Obama Most Popular 1st Quarter President in 30 Yrs

From Jonathan Singer at MyDD here.

Gallup has the numbers:

Barack Obama's first quarter in office concludes on Sunday, and during this early stage of his presidency he has averaged a solid 63% job approval, reaching as high as 69% in the initial days of his presidency and falling as low as 59% on a few occasions.

Obama's 63% first-quarter average matches the historical average of 63% for elected presidents' first quarters since 1953. However, it is the fourth highest for a newly elected president since that time, and the highest since Jimmy Carter's 69% in 1977. The historical first-quarter average includes two presidents whose scores exceeded 70% (John Kennedy's 74% and Dwight Eisenhower's 71%).

In the past three decades, every President -- including the Republicans' favorite Ronald Reagan -- has earned lower ratings during his first three months in office than Barack Obama. According to Gallup's numbers, George W. Bush earned an average 58 percent rating during the same period in his presidency, Bill Clinton earned a 55 percent rating, George H.W. Bush earned a 57 percent rating, and Reagan earned a 60 percent rating.

But perhaps even more remarkable than the fact that President Obama is more popular than either of his for most recent predecessors at the same points in their terms, Barack Obama has seen his approval rating remain stable throughout this period. Take a look at a graph of the President's approval rating since inauguration day, excluding internet polls and with the smoothing turned down so an not to read too much into small blips [see graph] . . . .

Throughout a period of great turmoil in the country . . . , Barack Obama has not only been able to maintain his approval rating but been able to maintain an impressive one at that. So much for the tea parties representing some real, broad-based sentiments within the electorate.